


Little Teach Annie

by bethany81707



Series: Stories of Garreg Mach [14]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Apologies, Comfort, F/F, Family Issues, Flash Fic, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22310110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethany81707/pseuds/bethany81707
Summary: Having returned to the war under her old Professor's instructions, Annette steels herself to face the conflict in which she must face both Felix and her family. Mercedes has the ear needed to help her gather her courage.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Mercedes von Martritz
Series: Stories of Garreg Mach [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552720
Kudos: 14





	Little Teach Annie

Annette sat outside the camp, taking her time reflecting on what would come to pass now that she had returned to Fodlan. Her four years teaching magic in Almyra had separated her from Mercedes and Felix’s advances, allowing her to think more clearly about what she thought of the two. Felix was an attractive swordsman who cared for her in a way that was clearly unique to herself. Mercedes had a brand of affection that stretched to everyone, from the lowly Cyril to Professor Bethany herself, but the fact she always made time for ‘her lovely Annie’ betrayed her true feelings.

Unfortunately for Annette, Felix and Mercedes had chosen opposite sides of Fodlan’s war. Felix served Dimitri, acting as one of, if not his only, remaining morality chain, while Mercedes pledged loyalty to Edelgard’s cause. Not enough to have actively fought for her in the intervening four years, but enough for her to return now that Annette had. Which meant she would have to bring the matter of her suitors to a head.

“Do you need any additional covers?” Mercedes asked, holding an incredibly warm looking blanket. Annette shook her head, but Mercedes draped it over her anyway, Annette feeling her hands brushing over her shoulders in what was the clear purpose of the act.

“Annie… I’m sorry about what I said about Felix,” Mercedes said. Annette had to think about what Mercedes might have said about Felix. As she remembered the pair, they considered each other as tolerable acquaintances, with no real rivalry over Annette’s hand. However, it soon dawned on Annette that the pair did, in fact, leave their last meeting in the battle of Garreg Mach with harsh words to say about one another.

“Water under the bridge, Mercie,” Annette said.

“But it hurt you, Annie. Felix made the wrong decision, but he is still an honourable man who would have deserved you if circumstances favoured him,” Mercedes said. Annette had forgotten Mercedes tended to get like this about her. Instead of an older brother or a father to fight back against anyone who dared look at her with a hint of naughty intentions, Annette had Mercedes, who somehow served dual purposes of being her overprotective friend and a potential suitor. She would never tell the poor girl, but Mercedes would probably have unkind things to say about Mercedes if the two roles were separate people.

“Mercie… I did miss you,” Annette ultimately claimed. In both the School of Sorcery and Garreg Mach, Mercedes had made sure Annette ate and slept healthily, and it took her a few months to learn to do that on her own again.

“I missed you too, Annie. It was… it didn’t feel right, waking up and not immediately getting to see you and hear your voice,” Mercedes said. Annette summoned her closer, allowing her to sit at her side. Unbidden, she leant on Annette’s side.

“Are you scared of fighting Faerghus?” Mercedes asked.

“I’ve heard some interesting stories about them… but Felix will remain a foe I would rather not face,” Annette said. Felix may appear brutish on the outside, but he was firmly on the side of justice and other such matters. If anyone left in Faerghus could be turned, it would be him.

“And your family?” Mercedes asked. Annette had considered them less than her classmates, owing to the fact she wasn’t aware of how the Dominic house was moving and where their allegiances lay.

“It’ll be OK. I’ll trust Uncle to keep his nose out of fights he can’t win,” Annette assured both of them. Mercedes allowed a moment’s pause.

“And your father?” Mercedes asked.

“Him? His pride as a knight conveniently putting himself opposed to his own daughter’s allegiances and desires? If he’d rather plonk himself in our path and refuse to budge than even try and make amends for his self imposed exile, then he is no father of mine,” Annette growled.

“Are you sure about that? You’ve always wanted to see your father again since we found out he was in Garreg Mach,” Mercedes asked. Annette clenched her fists, readying her answer for the both of them.

“...I am not. I can’t believe my father would choose Rhea over me at a time like this. Even for him, the idea is… he’s not like Bartels, Mercie. There’s still good in him,” Annette said. Mercedes stroked her back comfortingly. If she had a problem with her bringing up Bartels, she had well and truly set the matter aside for Annette’s.

“I don’t know how we’ll have to handle your friends, Annie. But no matter what happens, I promise I will be there for you,” Mercedes assured her. Annette appreciated that. Even though Mercedes’s own Faerghan family amounted to her adoptive merchant father, Annette knew through experience that her own pain would be Mercedes’s pain.

“You’re like my guardian angel…” Annette muttered. Once she noticed Mercedes’s expression, she realised that particular thought hadn’t remained as such.

“Guardian angel, hm? Don’t mind if I do. I love you, Annie,” Mercedes replied. She had never confessed to Annette ‘I love you’ outright before- the matter had always stood as an open secret between them. Annette appreciated the courage it likely took to push the matter into the open, where she had to make her response to it.

“Mercie… I love you too. I had always thought of myself as one day marrying a man, but my time in Almyra has offered a new perspective. I’d be glad to explore my interest in you,” Annette said. Mercedes turned quite pink in response, but kissed her happily all the same.

“So what’s Almyra like, then, Annie?” Mercedes asked.

“Oh, you’ll love it. The kids there don’t have the same opportunities as Fodlan kids, but they’re ready to learn! And some of the ones in my class before I left… my heart melted, they’re just so cute!” Annette exclaimed.

“I’m sure I’ll love it, then,” Mercedes said, beaming brightly at the idea.


End file.
